Alignable wall bracket



Aug-.11,1970 R; H. smb 3523,;593

ALIGNABLE WALL BRACKET Filed Aug. 19. 1968 ,Ivre/woe.

United States Patent O1 ce 3,523,393 Patented Aug. ll, 1970 3,523,393ALIGNABLE WALL BRACKET Robert H. Sand, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor toElsters, Hollywood, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Aug. 19,1968, Ser. No. 753,586 Int. Cl. A47b 96/ 06; A47f 5/08; E04g 3/08 U.S.Cl. 52-36 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A wall bracket speciallydesigned for providing cantilever support to a restaurant tabletop, inan application in which said table top must be Wall mounted lwithprecise leveling as well as vertical and horizontal alignment,regardless of imperfections in the structure to which the bracket ismounted, said bracket being a right angle structure with the verticalmember in the form of a vertically extended frame comprised of upper andlower vertical plates, connected by a pair of vertically disposed sidemembers; said bracket is attached to mounting studs projecting from thewall, usually two per bracket, by means of an outboard plate on each ofsaid mounting studs, said plate overlapping said side members; alignmentand leveling to precise vertical and horizontal spacing, despitesubstantial departure of both wall and mounting studs from proper planeand location, is achieved by aligning said frame, and applying shimsbetween said upper and lower plates prior to tightening said outboardplatesinto tight holding position.

This invention relates generally to wall brackets of heavy welded steelstructure or the like, used for mounting a table or similar platform toa fall surface by means of mounting studs projecting from said wallsurface; more particularly, the wall bracket of the present inventionhas a vertically extended portion for seating against the wall, saidvertically extended portion being in the form of a frame with upper andlower vertical plates, and vertically extended side members, which framecan be positioned in proper alignment despite substantial misalignmentof the mounting studs, and may be brought to a suitable level andsuitable normal projection from the Wall by means of shims between saidupper and lower plates and said wall, by virtue of attachment byseparate outboard plates received on said mounting studs, which permitadjustment of said bracket into proper position prior to tightening ofnuts or other fastening means on said mounting studs.

The present invention is designed specially for problems of wallmounting of tables encountered in Arestaurant construction. It may haveother applications also, but the description of the invention and of itsspecial advantages will be made with reference to the special purposefor which it has been found uniquely suited.

Wall-mounting of tables has been adopted as perhaps the most commonlyused type of table in any building specially constructed for use as arestaurant. Floor space is conserved, and oor cleaning is much easierand more effective. It is the universal practice to support the tabletop on a strong and rigid cantilever wall bracket constructed of weldedsteel, which is, in turn, bolted to the wall by means of two threadedbolts which have been installed in the wall during construction.Typically, the wall is concrete block or brick masonry, or reinforcedconcrete, since most building codes require reproof construction forrestaurants. The mounting studs are simply large size lag bolts whichhave been imbedded in the masonry or concerete during the wallconstruction. The contractors drawings require, and the contractorsinspectors insure within some degree of tolerance, that the bolts areinstalled in the Wall at approximately the location desired, and also,that the surface of the wall upon which the bracket is to be mounted isfairly close to a vertical plane surface.

Unfortunately, it has proven extremely diicult, costly, and sometimesimpossible at any price, to provide that the mounting studs areprecisely located, and also that the wall surface is a true planeextending the entire length of the large room. As a result, when thetables and brackets are mounted, the observer is dismayed to perceive,in most cases, that there are a few inches deviation in horizontalspacing between successive tables, so that the booth seatingarrangements have to be custom tailored to accommodate the departure ofthe mounting studs from correct horizontal spacing. Moreover, thetabletops are at rst all askew and awry. The two mounting bolts forbrackets are supposed to be in a perfect vertical line for each bracketbut as one views arow of these wall mounted tables when rst installed,prior to any adjustment, each table in the row is tilted in a differentright or left angle, and slight deviations of the wall from a verticalplane produce intolerable down tilt or up tilt of the table in thedirection of projection from the wall.

Heretofore, there has not been available any bracket with suicientadjustability on the wall to be properly positioned despite thecustomary and tolerated departures from alignment of the mounting studs,and departures from the vertical plane of the wall surface. Adjustmentshave had to be made by skilled craftsmen spending substantial time onthe placement of the tabletop on the bracket.

It is not necessarily the purpose of the present invention to avoid alladjustment of the tabletop on the horizontally projecting part of thewall bracket, but to provide a bracket which may be brought so closelyto alignment at the wall that such tabletop adjustment will beunnecessary in many cases and at a minimum in the others.

By using the present bracket, custom tailoring of the booth seats may bepractically eliminated, since despite misalignment of the mountingstuds, a series of restaurant tables can be mounted at the precisespacing required by the booth seats.

In various adjustable and movable table mounting brackets known in thepast, a substantial amount of skilled labor was required forinstallation, and the brackets once installed, could not be salvaged inthe event that it was desired to discontinue use of the building as arestaurant, and move the fixtures to another location.

With the bracket of the present invention, wall mounted tables can beinstalled on mounting studs which are arranged in a pattern which hasbecome practically standard in restaurant construction, and which werenot specially installed for accommodation of the present invention.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages are accomplished in thepresent invention by means best explained by a description of one specicembodiment, set forth hereinafter and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. l is a perspective view of a wall bracket constructed according tothe present invention, but shown prior to mounting on the wall;

FIG. la illustrates an outboard plate used for clamping the bracket ofFIG. l to the wall surface;

FIG. lb shows a typical shim used for leveling or normalizing thebracket against the Wall to which it is mounted;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the wall bracket of FIG. l as it appearsmounted to a wall surface;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a building,

showing portions of a concrete floor and wall, with mounting studsalready mounted in the wall at approximately, but not exactly thelocations desired;

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a pair of restaurant tablesmounted to a wall surface similar to that illustrated in FIG. 3, onmis-aligned mounting studs; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view showing the wall and floor in section,and revealing the manner in which the shimming wedges can be employed incooperation with the bracket of the invention to achieve leveling andnormalizing of the bracket prior to mounting of the table thereon.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the numeral 10 is used to indicate the entire wallbracket assembly taken collectively, while a typical restauranttabletop, mounted on bracket is designated in FIGS. 4 and 5 by thenumeral 11.

FIGS. 1 and 2 reveal that the principal part of bracket 10 is a heavywelded steel structure in the form of a right angle, and designatedherein as bracket structure 12, which is seen to be comprised, in thepreferred form, of a vertically disposed frame 13 and horizontallyprojecting horizontal support 14, the two being welded together to forman integral unit at 15, 16 and 17. A convenient and preferredconstruction for the horizontal support 14 is an inverted channelmember, as illustrated, with several mounting holes 20, so that any of avariety of tabletops may be mounted to it.

The vertically extended frame 13 of bracket structure 12 is formed ofupper and lower vertical plates 21 and 22, which are integrallyconnected, usually by welding, to a pair of vertical side members 23 and24. The steel bars from which the members 21 to 24 are constructed arerelatively thick and massive, and permit only negligible deection underthe stresses ordinarily encountered in the application for which thisbracket is intended.

The vertical dimension of frame 13 is practically determined by thecustomary elevation of a restaurant table from floor level. It should benoted, however, that one of the secondary advantages of the presentinvention is that the brackets may make contact with the wall surface atpoints of maximum vertical spacing, through plates 21 and 22, regardlessof the usual vertical location of the mounting bolts. Table-mountingbrackets of the past were much more resticted than the present bracketin two respects: First, the total area of wall surface that could becontacted was limited, since if it were too extensive, and imperfectionsin the plane of the wall were picked up by having extensive contact,there was no suitable way for adjusting the bracket to normal and levelposition; secondly, bracket structures of the past were usually confinedto some degree to the best placement of mounting bolt holes in thebrackets, whereas the bracket of the present invention eliminates thebolt hole from the bracket structure 12, entirely.

The fragmentary perspective view of FIG. 3 shows the appearance of atypical floor and wall of poured concrete, with a series of upper andlower mounting studs, 31 and 32, respectively, seen projecting from wallsurface at a carefully spaced table-mounting distance above the surfaceof floor 33.

FIGS. 2 and 4 are perspective and front elevational views, respectively,of the bracket 10 as mounted, a single bracket 10 prior to attachment ofthe table top being shown in FIG. 2, and two brackets 10 side by sidewith tabletops 11 mounted thereon being seen in FIG. 4.

The bracket 10 is clamped to the wall surface 30 by upper and lower boltplates 41 and 42, which have centrally located bolt holes 41a and 42a,to receive the threaded ends of mounting studs 31 and 32, respectively.In FIG. 2, fastening nuts 43 and 44 are seen in place.

The bars 41 and 42 are heavy enough to provide rigid attachment,regardless of shifting of the bracket 10 to any of the many locations inwhich it can be mounted with an upper and lower mounting stud 31 and 32accommodated within the central opening 13a of frame 13.

To permit such shifting, the horizontal length of bars 41 and 42 ispreferably a little over twice the horizontal width of frame opening13a.

FIG. lb shows a typical wedge or shim 50 which is used, wherevernecessary, between one or both of the Wall plates Z1 and 22, tonormalize and level the bracket 10. In FIG. 2, two such shims, 50a and50b are shown in place between the surface of wall 30, and wall plates21 and 22, respectively, for the respective purposes of normalizing andleveling. The term normalizing is used herein to name the procedure ofadjusting bracket 10, in a horizontal plane, so that support member 12projects from the ideal plane of wall 30 at a perfect right angle.

The bracket installation of FIG. 2 would be used in a case in which thesurface of wall 30 behind vertical member 23 is defective in that itdeviates rearwardly of the ideal wall plane. Correction for thisimperfection is achieved by inserting shim 50a back of plate 21, so thatsupport member 12 projects normally outward from the ideal plane of wallsurface 30.

FIG. 2 also shows how shim 50b would be inserted back of lower wallplate 22 to raise the outer end of support member 12 to level position.FIG. 5 shows a shim 50c introduced between wall surface 30 and upperplate 21 in order to lower the support member 12 (and a tabletop 11thereon) at the outer end. The dashed outline 11a shows the up-tiltedposition of table top 11 prior to adjustment with shim 50c.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate that mounting studs 31 and 32 do not fallexactly at the locations called for by the architects specications. Forexample, as seen in FIG. 3, wall 30 may be partly or entirely of pouredconcrete 30a; and/or partly or entirely of masonry block joined bycement seams as indicated at 3011. Horizontal spacing specifications areindicated by the vertical center lines 34, while vertical spacingspecifications are indicated by horizontal center lines 35 and 36.However, as illustrated in the front elevational view of FIG. 4, thesemany random deviations of the mounting studs 31 and 32 from theprescribed horizontal and vertical specifications are not reflected inthe row of Wall-mounted restaurant tables 11. With the bracket 10 of thepresent invention, adjustments are readily made to place the tables 11at perfect elevation and perfect horizontal spacing, as shown in FIG. 4.

It will be understood that any suitable type of wall mounting stud maybe employed, and also that it might be desirable to use more than two ofsaid mounting studs 31 and 32 for mounting each single bracket 10. Thus,in the cross-sectional view of wall 30, a typical mounting stud, shownfor purposes of illustration and not of restriction, is similar to anordinary foundation bolt, with a down-turned end 31a imbedded in theconcrete, or the mortar between concrete blocks, in wall 30. The outwardprojecting end 31b is threaded with standard bolt threads to accommodatenuts 43 and 44. In a typical application, only two large size bolts, oneupper bolt 31 and one lower bolt 32, are required for mounting a typicalrestaurant table. However, it is one advantage of the present inventionthat, one could use 3, 4, or even more mounting studs in the wall,without requiring any great precision of placement, for the mounting ofa standard bracket 10. For example, such a situation might beencountered in mounting two studs within a lath and plaster wall.Obviously, in such a case, additional bolt plates, such as bolt plates41 and 42 would be required, one for each mounting stud.

It will be seen that bracket 10 of the invention is held in position bythe pressure of bolt plates 41 and 42, only. The bolt plates 41 and 42are situated outboard of wall surface 30 and frame 13, and are notattached to frame 13 in any way. Thus, a workman may install all of thebrackets 10 in the long row of restaurant tables with nuts 43 and 44only loosely tightened. He may then proceed up and down the line ofbrackets 10, with hammer and level, and a supply of shims 50, tappingeach of the brackets into position. After the entire line of restauranttable brackets 10 are precisely positioned, normalized, and leveled, thenuts 43 and 44 will be tightened into position. Tabletops 11 may then bemounted, usually with almost no further adjustments, and booth seatsprecut to t specifications, may be installed Without requiring anyspecial modification.

I claim:

1. An alignable wall bracket for use in mounting a table surface on awall, in an application requiring that said table surface be level, thatit be located at a predetermined vertical plane, and that its locationmeet predetermined vertical and horizontal alignment specifications whenmounted on a plurality of mounting studs in said wall, and in which saidwall surface has irregular and substantial departures from said verticalplane, and the location thereon at which mounting is desired, saidbracket being comprised of:

a wall frame comprised of upper and lower wall plates, and a pair ofVertical side members, said wall plates and side members beingintegrally attached to one another around a central opening, saidcentral opening having a space sucient to accommodate said mountingstuds, when said mounting studs are at maximum allowable departure fromsaid predetermined specications, but with said frame being disposed tomeet said specifications, and said upper and lower wall plates havingvertical surfaces adapted to be located at said vertical plane ofdesired Wall mounting;

a table support member integral with said wall frame and projectinghorizontally therefrom for attachment of said table surface at thedesired level;

a plurality of rigid retaining members adapted to be received on saidmounting studs, said retaining members being located outboard of saidvertical side members relative to said wall, said retaining membersextending laterally of said central openings to engage the outboardsurfaces of said vertical side members, while accommodating limitedadjustment of location of said wall frame to said wall surface;

shim means for placement between said wall surface and said upper andlower wall plates to bring said bracket into conformance with saidvertical plane of desired mounting and said leveling and alignmentspecifications; and

fastener means for attaching said retaining members to said mountingstuds.

2. A wall bracket as described in claim 1 in an application in whichsaid wall is comprised of masonry blocks joined by cement seams, andsaid mounting studs consist of two threaded bolts projecting from saidWall at said seams near but not at said alignment specications, saidbolts being located one above the other near a common vertical alignmentaxis, and in which said bracket has said vertical members spacedhorizontally to span adjacent vertical seams, and said upper and lowerplates are spaced vertically away from said mounting studs by at leastthe spacing of horizontal seams in said wall, and each of said retainingmembers is a horizontal bar centrally bored to be received on one ofsaid mounting studs, each of said horizontal bars having a horizontallength at least twice the spacing between said Vertical side members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,855,654 10/1958 Stroben 248-235X 2,943,716 7/1960 Babcock 52--122 X PRICE C. FAW, JR., Primary Examiner

